Bible Reading Challenge Week 9

Last week I mentioned in my intro that Fall weather was finally here. As I sit to write this post, there is snow on the ground outside. It is definitely not expected and, if I’m honest, not very welcome yet.

This week is also a rather interesting week for just about anyone living in the United States, as tomorrow is our election day for the Presidential election and, depending on where you live, likely some local elections. This election season has been contentious and it feels like just about everyone is currently holding their breath in the hopes that their candidate prevails. As Christians, we can rest in the fact that no matter which candidate wins, and even if the winner seems like it will spell doom and gloom for the next four years, Jesus Christ is on the throne and our salvation is assured. Therefore, we can continue to laugh, be joyful, work hard, and fight the good fight, no matter the outcome of a political election.

Week 9 Readings

• Deuteronomy 16-34
• Mark 10-16

Deuteronomy 16-34

It is not unheard of to have people claim that the way God dealt with His people under the old covenant was harsh or lacking in grace. I’d like to point out that toward the end of the book, we can actually see how gracious God is on display. At the end of chapter 26, the terms of the covenant are reiterated – God commands the people to follow His statutes and rules with all their heart and soul, and the people declare openly that God is their God and that they will follow His ways and obey His voice – and God then declares that the people are His “treasured possession,” and that he will set them “in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations.”

I particularly found chapter 30 interesting because it’s completely prophetic. God gives them a history of what will happen to them – how they will turn away from the covenant and be exiled, but how God, through His mercy, will gather them again.

Mark 10-16

In Mark 10, the account of the rich young man who came to Jesus and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life, is a good example of what we have been reading in Deuteronomy. Jesus’ initial response to the man is that just needs to follow the commandments, listing off commandments 5-10 (all the ones related to treatment of neighbor). The man replies that he has kept these. Jesus then tells him to go and sell everything he has and give it to the poor.

Jesus’ response was to put the man to the test on his following of the first-tablet commandments. Did the man have no other gods? Did he love the Lord his God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength? The answer was apparently no, as the man walks away – though there is a tradition that says that the rich, young man was actual Mark himself, which would mean that he did come to repentance. Reading Jesus’ words about how difficult it is for those with wealth to enter the kingdom of God, we should have the warnings from Deuteronomy ringing in our ears – that when we gain wealth and comfort, we will be tempted to think that we achieved it all ourselves, and forget the God who blessed us.

May God bless your reading this week!